PJ McDonald, secured his 1,000th UK career victory with Zabeel Champion at Newmarket Racecourse today.
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On reaching the milestone, McDonald, said: “On a personal level it’s a great achievement and very much something I am proud to do have done. It is proof that you have to take the good times with the bad and continue working hard.”
The landmark win on Zabeel Champion marked his 13th success at the racecourse, with his highest performing tracks to date being Wolverhampton (72), Catterick (66), and Ayr (63).
McDonald’s sole British Group 1 success with Laurens in the 2017 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket. McDonald and Laurens, who was trained by Karl Burke in North Yorkshire, enjoyed a total of six victories together.
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PJ McDonald is based in Leyburn, North Yorkshire and his local racecourse York has proved a happy hunting ground.
Invincible Army won the 2019 Duke Of York Clipper Logistics Stakes and Clever Cookie winning the 2016 Yorkshire Cup. The latter a race that forms part of the QIPCO British Champions Series.
Discussing his career highlights, McDonald said: “Winning that Group 1 with Laurens obviously stands out. It was me proving to myself that I could win on the biggest stage.”
“The win with Clever Cookie at York was fantastic. The Yorkshire crowd really took to him and I will never forget the crowd cheering his name. Yorkshire has been my home since 2005, so that was a really special day.
PJ McDonald began his career as a jump jockey with 37 of the 1,000 wins coming over jumps, most notably victory in the 2007 Scottish Grand National with Hot Weld.
